Environmental impacts of domestic resource extraction in China

Figures & data

Table 1. List of raw materials included in this study

Metallic minerals	Non-metallic minerals			Fossil fuels
Iron ores	Magnesite	Calcite	Bentonite	Coal
Copper ores	Fluorite	Sand and gravel	Diabase	Crude oil
Nickel ores	Limestone	Serpentine	Andesite	Natural gas liquids
Lead ores	Dolomite	Mirabilite	Diorite
Zinc ores	Quartzite	Sylvite	Granite
Tin ores	Clays	Graphite	Tuff
Gold ores	Pyrites	Wollastonite	Marble
Silver ores	Barite	Talcum
Bauxite ores	Trona	Asbestos
Tungsten ores	Shale	Pyrophyllite
Antimony ores	Phosphorite	Diopside
Molybdenum ores	Feldspar	Kaolin
Rare earth	Gypsum	Ceramic clay

Figure 1. The system boundary of iron ore (red dashed boxes) and the overview of iron and steel industry

Table 2. Levels of decoupling analysis according to the value of decoupling indicators (Dr)

Level of decoupling analysis	g ≥ 0	g < 0
Absolute decoupling	Dr ≥ 1	Dr ≤ 0
Relative decoupling	0 < Dr < 1	0 < Dr < 1
Non-decoupling	Dr ≤ 0	Dr ≥ 1

Table 3. Domestic Extraction (DE) and environmental impacts of raw materials exploited in China

Unit		DEBillion tons	GWPBillion tons CO2 eq	ADPThousand tons Sb eq	RIMillion tons PM2.5 eq
Environmental impacts	In 1992	6.3	0.4	72	0.2
	In 2015	30	1.0	100	1.1
	Growth during 1992–2015	372%	195%	46%	408%
Key materials	Main contributor	Non-metallic minerals	Fossil fuels	Metallic minerals	Non-metallic minerals
	Contribution in 2015	80%	80%	89%	61%
	Contribution of the increase during 1992–2015	82%	75%	79%	64%

GWP represents Global Warming Potential; ADP represents Abiotic Depletion Potential; RI represents Respiratory Inorganics.

Figure 2. Domestic extraction (DE) and environmental impacts of raw materials exploited in China, 1992–2015

Table 4. Top 10 materials for Domestic Extraction (DE), Global Warming Potential (GWP), Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP), and Respiratory Inorganics (RI) in China, 2015

Rank	DE	GWP	ADP	RI
1	Sand and gravel	Coal	Antimony ores	Sand and gravel
2	Limestone	Crude oil	Gold ores	Iron ores
3	Coal	Sand and gravel	Tungsten ores	Limestone
4	Clays	Iron ores	Zinc ores	Coal
5	Iron ores	Natural gas liquids	Tin ores	Crude oil
6	Tuff	Limestone	Molybdenum ores	Natural gas liquids
7	Granite	Rare earth	Lead ores	Clays
8	Crude oil	Molybdenum ores	Fluorite	Rare earth
9	Shale	Clays	Coal	Gold ores
10	Gold ores	Gold ores	Copper ores	Tuff

Figure 3. Domestic extraction (DE) and environmental impacts contributions of specific materials exploited in China, 1992–2015

Figure 4. Decoupling analysis of DE/environmental impacts and GDP in China, 1992–2015

Dr represents decoupling indicator; I₀ is the DE/environmental impacts/GDP in 1992 and I_n is the DE/environmental impacts/GDP in the n-th year after 1992.

Figure 5. Decoupling analysis of DE and environmental impacts in China, 1992–2015

Dr represents decoupling indicator; I₀ is the DE/environmental impacts in 1992 and I_n is the DE/environmental impacts in the nth year after 1992.

Figure 6. Ranking comparison of domestic extraction (DE), global warming potential (GWP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and respiratory inorganics (RI) in China, 2015